Texas wines are proving to be real national contenders

Texas wines are proving to be real national contenders

At the 2013 TEXSOM, a professional wine education conference and sommelier competition, wine professionals from around the world crowded into a hospitality suite at the Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas in Dallas, clamoring for sips of award winning wine. How is that newsworthy? Because the wine was from Texas.

In a scene that wasn't possible even a decade ago, four Texas wineries with more than two dozen national and international awards between them demonstrated that Texas wines have matured into major national contenders.

‘This is not a fad and the guys in that room aren't rookies. These guys are serious wine makers.”

“We can finally get our wines out in front of a lot of different sommeliers from around the country to show that we make great wines in Texas,” said Kim McPherson of McPherson Cellars.

The suite was sponsored by Texas Monthly and allowed folks to sip heralded wines while peppering the winemakers with questions about their technique and operations.“The response tonight says a lot, not just for Duchman, but for Texas wines in general,” said Jeff Ogle, general manager of Duchman Family Winery. "The Texas wine industry has really evolved with a lot of hours invested in the vineyard and in the cellar as well."

Texas Master Sommelier and Certified Wine Educator Guy Stout observed that participating at a highly regarded industry event like TEXSOM was the culmination of decades of hard work by Texas winemakers and grape growers alike. “We're really starting to put the right grapes in the right place and it's all coming together,” he said. ‘This is not a fad and the guys in that room aren't rookies. These guys are serious wine makers.”

Not surprisingly, that Texas tenacity is showing up in the glass to the delight wine enthusiasts everywhere.